Beggar

Dear Gurudev.

On your 59 Vyasa Puja, I wished to make an offering and express my gratitude, but words fail me, and all I can say is HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
You said that we could talk to your picture and you would reciprocate and I can feel the reciprocation every time I do that. Today as I stand before your picture with a begging bowl, begging you that I can make my life itself an offering at your lotus feet, where my actions speak for me. Begging you to always let me meditate on the very same prayer that you wrote to your spiritual master so that I become worthy of meeting you again; I know my begging and pleas are not in vain. I'll save my stories of faith for another day.

I also beg you to give me the intelligence to meditate on these lines of Sri Guru Vandana by Narottama Das Thakura every day, internalize it and make it the very core of my existence.

(1) The lotus feet of the spiritual master are the abode of pure devotional service. I bow down to those lotus feet with great care and attention. My dear brother (my dear mind)! It is through the grace of the spiritual master that we cross over this material existence and obtain Krsna.
(2) Make the teachings from the lotus mouth of the spiritual master one with your heart, and do not desire anything else. Attachment to the lotus feet of the spiritual master is the best means of spiritual advancement. By his mercy all desires for spiritual perfection are fulfilled.
(3) He who has given me the gift of transcendental vision is my lord, birth after birth. By his mercy divine knowledge is revealed within the heart, bestowing prema-bhakti and destroying ignorance. The Vedic scriptures sing of his character.
(4) O spiritual master, ocean of mercy, and friend of the fallen souls, you are the teacher of everyone and the life of all people. O master! Be merciful unto me, and give me the shade of your lotus feet. May your glories now be proclaimed throughout the three worlds.